The Kind of Evil-Chapter 256: Counterpart.
Rasmus stared right into Kiel's eyes, the glowing red eyes that would be enough to bring any mortal to their knees begging for their lives. However, he had seen hell and had seen the eyes of the Devil himself, making him resistant to corruption.
Thalior and the others regained their consciousness after they got hit by the shockwave. Once they got back up, they saw Kiel, standing in front of Rasmus in his white robe with gold engravings. They were thinking of attacking him from behind, taking him by surprise. However, when they were about to lift their hands, their bodies didn't listen to their commands.
"Don't even try, mortals..." Kiel said in a soft voice as he stared at them from over his shoulder. "I can hear thoughts, and do you think that I won't know what you are all trying to do?" He asked as his red eyes glowed brighter.
The moment they saw Kiel's glowing eyes, they could hear thoughts of their own. The thoughts that they never thought they had, the thought of fear of death and pain. They listened to their own voices, yelling and screaming at them, which affected them deeply, deep enough that it affected their subconsciousness.
Thalior suddenly lost his breath as his vision became blurry, and he collapsed to his knees. He breathed heavily as he clenched his fists on his chest, trying to remove his chest plate. It wasn't just him, all the commanders and soldiers who saw Kiel's glowing red eyes also collapsed and couldn't breathe.
Uriel, Xena, and Javi were the only ones who could resist corruption, even though they still heard their own voices in their heads. Kiel didn't expect there were humans who had accepted who they were and made peace with their feelings.
"I'll spare your life, all of you in exchange for his life," Kiel stared at Uriel and Xena as his glowing eyes slightly dimmed. "What will be your answer?" He asked in a soft and soothing voice.
Uriel and Xena looked at each other for a moment before they looked at Rasmus. They wouldn't hesitate to let Rasmus die, but that was if Kiel wanted Rasmus dead and not make Rasmus the demon's pawn. They didn't know what to do, but they knew it would be better for them to let Rasmus go for the lives of thousands of soldiers.
"That's it, you just make the right choice," Kiel said, smiling with his eyes. "Those mortals are more important, correct? You humans believe that sacrificing one life for a thousand lives is much better," he continued.
"Just leave," Rasmus slowly pulled off his helmet, revealing his face to Kiel. "He will use your desire to get him what he wants. Just leave and save yourself," he continued as he threw the helmet away.
"Humans think they're complicated beings, but for us, you're all just shallow creatures," Kiel chuckled softly, mocking humanity.
Uriel approached Thalior and helped him stand up, trying to avoid unnecessary problems. Xena also helped the Commanders who had recovered from the corruption since Kiel no longer used his power on them.
As soon as Thalior and the others left and continued their fight with the Corrupted, Rasmus was left behind. They looked back for one last time and saw Rasmus standing tall with no fear in his expression or eyes. They were shocked and in disbelief by how indifferent he was, even in the face of a powerful being.
"You're not going to fight now?" Kiel asked as he put his hands behind his back.
"Do I stand a chance?" Rasmus asked as he kept staring at Kiel with a calm expression. "We both know that I'm just a bug in your eyes, a harmless and powerless bug. So, no, I don't think I want to fight you," he shook his head.
"Then join us, Rasmus Blackheart. You stand no chance here, even though your magic is quite extraordinary. Just look at what you did to that creature. Did you think it would be enough to kill it?" Kiel glanced at Nephia, regenerating its body even in the state of Mana depletion. "In this dome that I created, nothing can stop that thing," he pointed out.
Rasmus turned around and noticed that Nephia had regenerated his body. He couldn't believe that it wasn't enough, and he regretted that he hadn't used enough Mana to create the hydrogen bomb. However, there was no reason for him to dwell on what had happened.
"Join you? Is there a reason for me to consider your offer?" Rasmus turned around to look at Kiel. "You can kill everyone here, and I won't bat an eye," he added as he kept staring into Kiel's eyes.
"Reason? I have many reasons. One of them is that I can offer you freedom of mind and body. I can easily turn you into a puppet while your body will no longer follow your command and your mind will go against your will," Kiel answered as he walked toward Rasmus. "There are countless ways to make you suffer worse than death, Rasmus Blackheart," he leaned his head down so he could be on the same level as Rasmus.
Rasmus stared at the glowing red eyes in front of him for a moment while Kiel tried to read his thoughts. Kiel was about to find out everything inside Rasmus's mind, but then suddenly a surge of divine energy burst and exploded from behind. Kiel slowly turned around and saw a pillar of blinding white light that had pierced through the demonic barrier.
The divine pillar took all the demons' attention, even Yaza and the Prime Lords. They watched the pillar hit the center of the demonic barrier and the impact was enough to purify demonic energy in the air. The divine pillar kept pushing through the demonic barrier until it managed to crack the barrier and finally shattered the barrier. The fresh air combined with the divine pillar, releasing a shockwave of divine energy that made all the soldiers regain their strength and stamina in an instant.
Kiel slowly moved his pupils down and pointed right at Astrea, surprised that she could break his barrier. However, he realized what she did also cost something within her because he could see the divinity within her body had weakened. The Prime Lords also noticed her condition, thinking it was a perfect opportunity to get rid of her.
In their current state, the Prime Lords believed that it would be enough to get rid of Astrea and the others who were protecting her. They all flew down at the speed of sound, but before they could reach her, a flash of lightning struck one of them and zapped the others. If it was made of Mana, they would be thankful since it would charge their power because Mana would get converted into demonic energy the moment it entered their bodies, however, it wasn't made of Mana, it was purely a lightning strike that nature created.
The Prime Lords were badly injured, and they noticed more lightning bolts were about to strike them. They spread and tried to dodge the lightning bolts that were chasing after them. It was different from what Rasmus did or used back then because the lightning strikes weren't moving awkwardly. The Prime Lords wondered who was controlling nature until they saw Agnesia ascend to the sky, floating with her hands wide open and arms spread widely.
Every strand of hair, every toe, and every finger she had released sparks of lightning as her body got struck by dozens of lightning simultaneously and rapidly. Everyone's attention was pointed at her. She kept ascending as the dark clouds formed and turned bright daylight into darkness and flashes of lightning could be seen beyond the dark clouds.
The moment she clenched her fists, her red hair turned into fiery flames as her eyes released ambers and sparks of lightning. Her hands and feet also got caught in flames as lightning bolts kept striking her body rapidly. When she pushed her hands to the front, dozens of lightning bolts struck the ground, obliterating the demon army and turning them into ashes.
Agnesia screamed as she clenched all her muscles, making the flames on her hair and limbs grow fiercer. She then glared at the Prime Lords and flew toward them, leaving trails of smoke. The Prime Lords could tell that everything that was happening on her body, there was barely any Mana within or around her. The fire and the sparks of lightning that she released weren't made out of Mana as if her body was one with nature and acted as the vessel of natural order.
As soon as Agnesia was close enough to the Prime Lords, she spread her arms and legs, releasing a massive explosion with extreme heat. The Prime Lords fled and protected themselves with demonic energy that they had left within them. If mages were the operators of a mass destruction weapon, sorcerers were the nuclear reactor itself, possessing power that could kill anything around them.
"I knew that I wouldn't stand a chance against you or your army. But those people, they believe otherwise," Rasmus looked at Agnesia in the sky, chasing after the Prime Lords as she released beam-like flames from her hands. "You were wrong about humans being shallow creatures. They're complicated to understand and to predict once you choose to go against them," he continued.
Kiel slowly turned around and looked at Rasmus's stoic expression. He opened a portal right behind Rasmus, and hurriedly walked toward him. Before his hand could reach Rasmus, Aris landed in between him and Rasmus with her silver hair that had turned bright and light blue with her glowing bright blue eyes that seemed to be the counterpart of Kiel's eyes.
Aris released a bright blue energy, and the portal that Kiel opened suddenly got disrupted and vanished. Kiel took a few steps away from Aris and looked up at Yaza. To his surprise, Yaza got badly injured and used Nephia as his shield, saving his own life because if he died in Aris's hand, his existence would disappear completely, and he wouldn't be able to resurrect.
Aris dashed and appeared right in front of Kiel, slashing her sword at him without hesitation. When her sword cut through Kiel's body, it turned into black smoke. The moment the smoke dispersed, Kiel had teleported to Nephia's left shoulder. He then flicked his fingers, and suddenly all the Corrupted and possessed bodies collapsed.
A thick and immense demonic energy flowed toward Kiel, Yaza, and Nephia. Each of them absorbed demonic energy to gain strength. The Prime Lords retreated and landed right behind Yaza and Kiel, kneeling at them. Kiel and Yaza then grabbed their heads, absorbing their existence to give both of them extra power.
"I need to rest for a bit..." Aris staggered as she held her head. "The amount of energy that I'm using, the more I let it within me, it might force me to evolve..." she explained as she released the energy within her.
"Rest, we will try to do something about those three to buy you some time," Rasmus nodded with understanding and kept staring at Kiel, realizing the real fight had just started.
